Learn from Failure

 

Failure is delayed success. Failure is the foundation of success. Failure is not a disaster. Failure is the best teacher toward success. Those were series of slogans that appear when I type the word "failure" on the internet.

Bill Gates quotes: “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”

Steve Jobs quotes: “Failure could be the best thing in our life“

Jack Ma quotes “Giving up is the greatest failure”

Dahlan Iskan quotes “Everyone has quota of failure”

So, how about you,

Dear fellow toastmasters and distinguished guests,

Have you ever experienced a failure?

Great. That was the beginning of your success, but it depends on how did you deal with that failure.

Allow me to tell you about failure in my life and the lessons learned from them.

The first failure: I did not pass the subject at the first half of my study at engineering faculty. I realized how hard was my father’s struggle for my opportunities to be in the college. When I did not pass the subject, it was a nightmare for me. The subject that I did not pass was “Basic Cultural Knowledge”. My friends called it “singing lessons”, because it was assumed very easy subject. That assumption made me scatterbrained. I did not try to exercise. I did not try to look for more references directed by the lecturer.  Instead, I concentrate my attention to other difficult subjects only. Consequently, in the examination time I could not answer the question clearly. If I imagine now, exactly like answering impromptu speech question when the first time attending toastmasters meeting. “I think like this, I think like that”. As a result, I did not pass the subject. I got a D, saddened value.

From this incident I learned that I should not underestimate the things that seem easy though. Since then on, in earnest and disciplined mind, I tried to pay attention to all subjects, so I could pass the next subjects well.

The second failure, when it was announced that I did not pass the subject “Concrete Construction Knowledge”. With the value of E. “Booooooooom !!!!!....” I felt like thunder in broad daylight has struck my dream. This was a main subject, I learned it with full effort and spirit. But I didn’t pass it with value of E, the lowest value in the college. I lost my confident. Oh my God, how is the continuity of my study.

Then I was soon back in my consciousness. “I understood well this subject, why didn’t I pass it. Where was my mistake? I tried to confirm in the secretariat, was it possibly typo? Apparently not. There was a list from lecturer. Then I went to the first lecturer who released the list, it turned out that my test result is B, but my duty had no value. Then I met the second lecturer who received my duty’s letter. When I explained my problem, he soon remembered: “You have submitted your duty’s letter very early, may be it tucked in one of my book. Do you have backed-up copy” asked the lecturer. “Yes, I have Sir”. Then with eager I resubmit the duty’s letter, and finally the lecturer announced my passing value was B.

I felt grateful because I did not give up in that case, I tried to inspect and learn from the failure.

Finally, lessons of the failure has brought me to the first group of graduation in my class.

Dear fellow toastmasters and distinguished guests,

In fighting a goal or ideas, we should not underestimate the things that seem easy though, because those underestimated things could be determinant factor of our success.

If there is a failure, it should be really learned, so that we could gain success in the next opportunities.

Failure is painful, but it would even be more painful if we could not learn from that failure.

(This script was my project for Speech#3-Get To The Point )